The one that got away
by KimThePirate
Summary: Imagine you left for ten years and returned to find everything so different. The people you once loved gone or changed. Thats the life Alex returns to but who is she to talk. Seth/Oc
1. Chapter 1

Alex's black boots swayed gently in her hand clinking together every so often as she allowed the bitterly cold water soak through her tights freezing her toes but she did not notice either. Her soft chocolate brown eyes stared absently ahead watching a tiny boat in the distance travel past the moon. Alex had always enjoyed the feel of sand between her toes, the cold ocean water rushing over her tiny feet and as she swigged out of the her last bottle of strong bow cider she began to remember happier times.

As a child Alex had lived in this quaint little town, this was back when her father business was unsuccessful, unnoticed just starting up, her favourite memories all took place on this beach, her and her best friend. It led her to think about her friend, what would he look like now? What did he want to do with his life? She'd always wondered if he remembered her but she doubted it, he'd always been so popular back then, probably even more so now. Alex quickly shook her head in an attempt to get her thoughts back on track but he was still there in the back of her mind, a single tear had leaked out of her left eye so her right hand quickly came up catching the tear on her index finger. Alex held it up so it glistened in the moonlight before wiping it away onto her barely there skirt.

She knew she shouldn't have came back it'd had been too long, years in fact most of her life had been spent in Seattle not here but her only happy memories were of this place but the memories hurt too much. Nine long years she'd been gone, nearly a decade and it was just as beautiful as ever but the people she shared the beach with were long gone. A happy howl filled the air and finally Alex realised just how much La Push had changed, her La Push did not have wolves and feeling no longer welcome she turned to go. La Push wasn't her home no more no matter how much she wanted it to be or how right being here felt. Alex had been on a long journey to get here and it was going to be an even longer journey back.

Her feet traipsed up the beach savouring the feel of the sand and as her feet left the sand of first beach Alex took a long final gulp from her bottle before chucking it onto the beach that had betrayed her. The sun had just began to rise on the horizon as the shiny black car pulled out of the car park, a bottle lay on the beach, alone feeling just like it's owner.

It took her two days; just two days before she couldn't cope any longer, she missed La Push more than ever. It had never occurred to her that if she visited she would never be able to leave and so she came up with an elaborate plan and started the lies to her parents. Her lies began as soon as she came home from school she had a fake letter from the school saying that she had been chosen to be an exchange student in England, attached to the letter was the required documents to move schools. Her parents didn't understand why the school had left it so late, so another lie tumbled out of her mouth.

"No, it's my fault. I was meant to give it to you weeks ago but you two were always busy and I kept forgetting"

"It's Friday that's three days away are you sure you're still allowed to go?"

"Yes, I asked. Please it's only a year"

So they signed it and transferred ridiculous amounts of money from their bank to hers and when Friday came along they weren't even there, so as she drove away from the house for the last time for a year she stared ahead and never looked back. The drive was long but she welcomed the peace that swallowed her as she got closer to her true home, three hours passed and the empty feeling in her heart was nearly full.

Alex had thought ahead to accommodation while she was in La Push, in the back of her car hidden from her parents view was a large tent, she knew it wasn't much and that she'd probably die from the cold or drown in the night from the larger amounts of rain coming through the door but it was a shelter. Alex was an intelligent girl despite the excessive drinking and skipping school she was still nearly top of the class so the first place she headed when she got to the reservation was the town hall. She'd done her research and she knew that the only way to get guaranteed accommodation in a working condition was here, they only accepted the best.

Alex had spent hours reading and documenting every last drop of information she could about the _, she knew it all. She'd read everything the legends, the tourist board, the school reports and if you searched long enough you could find every citizen of La Push all on one page, that was the information she appreciated most. She found her childhood seeping back into her brain all those days spent happily covered in sand and sea, rain and leaves, mud and grass it all came back, her parents had been suspicious that night. They came home to find her crying, tears rolled down her cheeks splashing onto the newly purchased Persian rug; they were however satisfied with her excuse of how much she was going to miss it here. Well why wouldn't they? In the years since she'd moved here the lies Alex told became more convincing. Of course they would she told no less than 5 every day

The truth was Alex had no friends and it wasn't through lack of trying by others, she had acquaintances, she went partying with them but she did not particularly like them. Her grades were so high because she enjoyed the work but not the prison and she was naturally clever. So you see Alex had been looking for an escape any town, city or reservation would have done but her heart was set on La Push.

La Push was literally a lone reservation, trees circled it in and then where the trees weren't the ocean was, Alex was still trapped but she was trapped in her paradise, nature. Ever since she was younger Alex had preferred nature, trees, flowers, sand, grass anything natural over anything un natural. She hated flying because she believed that if humans were intended to fly they would have wings, she'd mentioned this once to her parents and the look of disgust on their face's was enough to stop her ever telling them her opinion on anything ever again.

Then as she saw the 'welcome to La Push' sign she allowed a smile to come onto her face. It wasn't until she'd actually drove into the reservation that Alex truly felt at peace though however it did not last long because while she drove it dawned on her that the one fatal flaw of this plan was that she had not thought to find a place to live, a hotel would do for now but eventually she would need a proper home for herself. After a quick U turn Alex was on her way to town hall in order to find somewhere to live.

It was a little more decrepit then she remembered but that was to be expected after all it had been 10 years since she'd even seen it. White flakes of paint were peeling off of the wooden building; it looked very much liked it'd had been attacked by a cheese grater. The Oak door was clearly new, well, either that or very well looked after it had a showcase gleam and even the white steps which had obviously been painted recently paled in front of it Someone needed to grease the door Alex decided as she pushed open the metre wide door to a loud squeaking. A bottle blonde with fake talons shot evils in her direction and for a passing moment Alex thought she'd made the wrong decision. The small hesitation in Alex's step was enough to give the fake bitch sat at the desk more encouragement but after her moment of weakness Alex stomped forward confidently and it would have gone brilliantly if it weren't for the fact at that very moment she stepped into a giant puddle of water and fell flat on her ass.

A small cackle filled the room, it was the girl. The blondes name tag told Alex her name was Cassie, Alex searched her mind to find out any information she may have read about her, there was very little. Cassie was a cheerleader at the high school, a senior and worked as a receptionist part time so she had extra money to spend on her clothes. Once she's finished high school she planned to 'kick back and relax', in short she lacked ambition, intelligence and people skills, everything Alex hated about people.

The two girls in the reception must have been making quite a commotion because a door to the right opened suddenly and out walked a girl with dark brown hair, she was on her mobile to someone and she looked irritated.

"Look Jared, I'm busy, I can't talk now. Stop fussing, I'll be fine. Yes, Yes, No, go and save the world." With that she promptly cut off the conversation and she seemed to turn off her phone. She glanced at Alex briefly before turning to Skye and saying "I'm sure Billy asked you to clean that up"

Skye gave an uncommitted sigh before going back to typing on the computer. A short frown was placed on Kim's face before she offered her hand to a bemused Alex.

"What brings you here to the lovely reservation of La Push today?" it sounded rehearsed, it probably was but it made Alex feel welcomed and surely that's what really mattered.

"I'm looking for a place to live for the next year or so"

Kimberley Connweller was not one to judge but even to her it seemed strange for a 16 year old to be moving alone, she was wise enough to not show what she thought though as she showed Alex through to the room she'd just vacated.

It took 2 hours to even find a suitable house and Kimberley kept trying to show Alex the cheapest houses because she was sure that on whatever income she was on wouldn't cover the more expensive places. Despite Kim's best attempts Alex decided on one of the most expensive cabins there were, it just so happened to be one of Kim's favourite Cabins because her fiancée and his friends had built it.

Kim would be upset it was gone but being a shapeshifter was a time consuming job and one that didn't pay very well so any extra money was welcomed, especially now that Emily wanted to have baby. Sure the $750 a month would give each wolf barely any money but it was extra and that's what mattered. Alex liked the house and she knew her parents wouldn't be able to see how much money she spent or where it was going so she decided to do the most impulsive thing she had in a long while.

"Kim? I know it says it isn't for sale but do you think there's a possibility I could buy the cabin?"

The rain outside the window sped up with Kim's heart rate, the amount of money the pack would earn for selling that cabin would probably manage to keep them afloat for the next few months but she didn't know if they'd go for it.

"I don't know. I could phone up Sam and ask if there could be a meeting between you guys to find out."

Alex smiled so wide and nodded excitedly.

After a brief phone call to Sam they decided to meet up tomorrow morning at ten, to talk through the details and the formalities but it looked likely, it was with that news Alex left the town hall with a slight skip in her step.

It was planned it just happened -just like everything else that had happened in her life lately – the bottle of vodka was nearly empty and it'd be fair to say that Alex was pissed. The stars twinkled high above acting as a disco ball as she danced and sang along with her iPod which was safely snuggled up in a blanket because Alex didn't want it or the docking station getting a cold. The mind of a drunken person is a dangerous one to stray into because their logic is a little twisted, if not a lot twisted and so it was stupid decision on fates part to allow it to happen tonight.

Alex was aware that she was walking incredibly close to two dangerous places but she did not care, she was aware of the fact she could not feel her toes or fingers and still she did not care. In her drunken stupor she could only really feel happiness, this was one of the many odd things that her imprinter would soon find out about her, unlike other people Alex got happy rather than miserable when drunk. The happiness was probably why Alex made sure she got belligerently drunk at least once every weekend but I digress. The story must move forward and in order for it to unfold the imprint must occur.

The forest lay on one side of Alexandra, the ocean on the other. Alex sensed the true danger too late, the moon was making everything black and white in her eyes, everything but his eyes, he was so beautiful but so scary. She edged closer slowly but then suddenly she jumped and fell over onto the cold sand when a voice she remembered so vividly. She hadn't heard that voice in over 10 years and in the past two days she'd heard it twice, it didn't matter that she didn't hear what he said, she turned around slowly and in doing so she'd protected herself. If she hadn't been so drunk she would have believed her ears when they heard a loud ferocious growl but she did not.

Besides her eyes were busy because there in front of her in the flesh was the main reason she came back, it became quite apparent that she was dreaming then.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex was used to waking up in strange beds; it was part of her life really. She'd wake up in a different bed every day of summer break because her parents insisted on travelling, she woke up in strange beds because of one night stands so yeah Alex was used to strange beds but this, was different. This time it was different because normally she woke up next to someone or there'd be those weird hotel lamps near her head but she woke up very much alone. The sound of the shower running from the next room was what woke her up and she was certain she could hear a man singing. Her eyes glanced over to the clock on the bedside table, it was blinking '09:17' a feeling o relief spread through her, at least she wasn't late.

Seeing as she had the time she took in her surroundings, the room was the size of her closest at home but it was nice. Spiderman wallpaper covered every wall and that made Alex smile, clearly he hadn't decorated recently. It was a typical bys room, but something caught her attention, it was a corkboard covered in photos, there in the centre was a 5 year old her and a 5 year old Seth grinning at the camera covered in ice cream. She grinned remembering that day, it had been so much fun, it'd been the first day Leah had actually gone to the beach with them in over a year. Harry had taken them as a treat for helping him paint the shed. It wasn't until the memory ended that she realised just who's room this was. and thats when she panicked. Sure she'd had plenty of one night stands, more then someone probably should and way more then she cared to remember but this was different so she panicked.

The clothes she was wearing the night before lay at the edge of the bed neatly folded, so she pulled them on as fast as she could. She kept telling herself that this was just like any other one night stand but of course it wasn't and to make matter worse as she stepped out of the bedroom she bumped into a woman. This woman was tall and unbelievably beautiful, she'd grown and changed a lot since the last time she'd seen her but it was so obviously Leah. "H- Hi?" She shakily said

Despite the pleasantries Leah did not look amused it was almost as if she could tell what she'd done the night before so she kissed her, admittedly it was a bad idea but it was the best she had. When she pulled away she ran, her handbag swung wildly by her side, she literally sprinted the rest of the way to the beach. It wasn't far and as she neared she saw her car was still there. After retrieving her car keys and phone from her bag she saw that she only had twenty minutes to get to Sam Uley's,, without a moment's hesitation she jumped in her car and drove like a maniac. A journey that should taken 15 minutes was completed in just over five. Alex literally ran to the door before tentatively knocking on the glass. Almost as soon as her hand left the glass a woman opened, it took all of Alex's will power not to look horrified when she saw her because three distinct scar's covered the right side of her face, the puckered pink skin along the scars contorted her mouth into a permanent frown so that when she smiled it was only half. "Hi I'm Emily young, Sam Uley's fiancée come in, they're all in the lounge"

Alex stepped through the door and as she turned from closing it she saw 6 giants and they were hot she would have been checking them out if they weren't so intimidating. Alex was petrified and it didn't help that the one called Paul was smirking at her and a few of the others were looking amused, Alex wasn't sure what the joke was but she sure as hell hoped it wasn't her. The second tallest of them all was Sam, he walked forward to shake her hand and introduced himself and everyone else because he didn't recognise and why should he? After all it had been ten years.

"So when did you move into the area?" Jared questioned politely, it was his attempt at making her feel at ease but if the increase in her heart rate was anything to go on it just made her feel worse.

"I moved back yesterday" she said, if the wolves hadn't been able to hear her heart then they would have been fooled by the strong persona she had just put on.

"Moved back?" Sam asked

The conversation that went on was mainly between Sam and herself because apparently he was the one in charge

"Yeah I used to live here when I was younger, my mum and dad were Quileute but they moved away when my dad's business hit the big time, I guess." Alex replied unsurely, anyone that even knew Alex a little bit knew that to her the money her dad earned was something to be ashamed of, she didn't like talking about it but if the fact her father had money helped her get the house of her dreams then so be it.

"Where did you stay last night? With a relative?" Sam spoke

A loud snort came from the corner that Paul was sat in and Sam shot evils in his direction. "I think we all know where she stayed last night. Our little Sethy boo isn't all innocent anymore" Paul went to carry on but stopped when Emily whacked him on the head with the spoon she had in her hand.

Alex was confused so completely confused, she didn't know how they could know already or how they even knew Seth he was two years younger than all of them. Her cheeks were burning because for the first time in her life she felt embarrassed and guilty about her one night stand, the truth of the matter was she couldn't remember any of the night before, her last memory was of the beach.

Alex shook her head and whispered quietly "Could you name a price for the house please?" She didn't think they'd hear it so was shocked when Sam replied.

"Well, we've discussed this in great length and decided that if you want to buy the house then it'll cost you $78,500. We know it's a lot and we don't expect you to pay it all at once you could pay in instalments over a year or –"

Sam's speech was cut of abruptly when Alex cut in "Sure fine, is a $100,000 okay? I only really deal in round numbers. Cash or cheque? "

A stunned silence pursued no one could believe it. That was $10,000 each, more then they earned in 5 months

"A cheque will be fine" Emily replied smiling "It's very kind of you to even consider buying the house let alone want to pay extra"

Alex nodded solemnly and pulled out her cheque book right at the moment Seth Clearwater can sprinting in to the house shouting " I imprinted and she ran away"


End file.
